Watch the 4-legged warrior 'go into battle'

Recruiting 4-legged warriors

Those are the soldier dogs at the Border Guard Vocational School 24. Vocational School 24 looks like any other military barracks, but behind the barracks' doors is something very interesting: In addition to the soldiers, there are also four-legged soldiers and dogs that are organized in a regular and modern way.

The four-legged warriors are always ready for duty. Photo: GT

Introducing the school, Colonel Nguyen Huu Vuong - Deputy Political Commissar of the unit said that the school has gone through more than 50 years of construction and development. Currently, the school is maintaining 5 combat clusters spread across the country: Southwest Border, Central Highlands, Northwest, Northeast and 1 cluster directly stationed at the school, serving mobile missions in Hanoi. In addition, the school also has a dog army to search and rescue when natural disasters occur, buried accidents, landslides, collapsed construction works and a group of dogs to identify the source of the gas, mainly to find explosives, drugs and banned substances. With many achievements, the 24 Border Guard Vocational School has been awarded many noble titles by the Party and the State.

Colonel Nguyen Huu Vuong added that the criteria for selecting and training a dog to become a soldier are extremely strict. All dogs managed by the school, from birth, have a birth certificate, and when they die, they must be declared dead. The pedigree of the dog's grandparents and parents is also managed. When a dog is born, it will be screened and, if it meets the physical standards, sense of smell, nervous system, etc., it will be selected, and then trained in specialized fields.

Dogs with a strong sense of smell will be trained to search and rescue, or to identify scent sources. Dogs with a well-developed nervous system, with a high ability to bite and attack, will be trained as fighting dogs. To be selected by the selectors, dogs must weigh 30kg or more, have a balanced height and body, be physically strong, and not have any diseases or special defects.

Trainers and fighting dogs quickly approached the target and took it down during a drug crime arrest training session. Photo: GT

Once the dogs have been selected, the school will pair them with students. Each student will be in charge of a dog, studying together from elementary to intermediate level. Students must take care of, feed, examine and play with their dogs. Some students spend nearly 20 hours a day with their assigned dog. When the dogs and students pass the tests together, such as listening to attack commands, jumping through rings of fire, practicing silence during ambushes, knowing how to eat foods suitable for combat missions... the school will organize a dual graduation. Then, both people and dogs will be assigned to the assigned combat groups.

Destructive Bite

To learn more about the power of these four-legged warriors, we went to the school's combat cluster No. 1 and witnessed a combat training session of the unit.

Lieutenant Colonel Dinh Phu Loi - Head of Combat Cluster No. 1 gave the assignment: Require the unit to organize an ambush to capture armed drug criminals who illegally crossed the border into our country.

Immediately the fighting group was deployed outside the unit's training ground, with wild rose myrtle hills growing higher than people's heads, the four-legged warriors and the trainers sat still. When a group of people appeared in the ambush area, ordered to attack, the dogs rushed up and with terrible bites immediately took down the armed drug dealers.

To taste the power of the 4-legged warrior, I also asked to wear protective gear and be the green army for the dog Ti Po to practice. Although I was warned that it was quite dangerous and would be very painful, I was still determined to face... destructive bites once.

A protective suit weighing up to 15kg was put on me. To be more careful, the trainers also added 2 butt pads, making me walk stiffly like a robot. They also told me that if I fell, I had to lie face down on the ground immediately to avoid unwanted attacks. The reason is that dogs are mainly trained to attack suddenly on the thighs and elbows, and when ordered, they will attack dangerous places like the throat...

Lieutenant Colonel Dinh Phu Loi takes care of a fighting dog. Photo: GT

I was put into position, as a green soldier, to defend against the attack. But when the dog Ti Po was ordered to attack, rushing at me from behind, I felt a force "like heaven". Unable to resist, I fell face down forward and felt my left thigh numb. Following the instructions, I lay face down on the grass. But as if there was an omnipotent force, I was still dragged along by Ti Po, accompanied by a powerful growl. With the help of the commanders, I was freed from Ti Po's jaws, resulting in one leg limping. Taking off the protective suit, although the fangs did not penetrate the flesh, on my thigh was a dark purple mark due to the impact force from the extremely strong jaws of the fighting dog.

Talking about his work as a green army, Lieutenant Colonel Dinh Phu Loi said: During the training process, due to the safety procedures, although he has not been bitten by a dog until it bled or threatened his life, being bruised and sore where the dog's teeth bit him is a daily occurrence for the dog trainers. But they also have immeasurable joys, which are the dogs that are always absolutely loyal, ready to receive all orders from the trainer, even rushing into criminals when they have hot weapons without flinching. The four-legged soldiers have truly contributed many achievements to protecting security and order and protecting the borders of the Fatherland.